International Congress for Peace
By Editor
THE International Peace Congress that met in San Francisco October 10-13 was perhaps one of the most influential and earnest assemblages of the kind that ever convened. Some of the most widely known men in the world were leaders in this congress. The central theme was, to obliterate war from our planet by the organization of a world court that would settle all difficulties before judicial tribunals. Dr. David Starr Jordan, the widely known president emeritus of Leland Stanford Junior University; Dr. James A. McDonald, editor of the Toronto Globe; and Edward J. Hanna, archbishop of San Francisco, were among the noted speakers in the first day's program of the congress. GREATEST STRUGGLE SINCE THE REFORMATION
Dr. Jordan recognized that “at the end of the war [in Europe], we shall have, without doubt, the greatest intellectual and political struggle since the Reformation.” And in recognition of this struggle, he said: “Some thirty separate plans for the organization of Europe in the interest of law and order have been put forth by societies of standing and authority, and still others equally important by individual men.” Speaking of the gigantic war debts, the doctor said: “The amount expended on armaments before the war, upwards of $10,000,000 a day, will be altogether beyond the resources of the people who do the paying. “The war debt of Europe, about $28,000,000,-00, which was already monstrous, has nearly doubled within the year, and on top of it has come the expenditure of the war, including the waste of cities and property, which already has reached the stupendous figure of more than forty thousand millions of dollars [$40,000,000,000], a sum [$96,000,000,000 in all] apparently greater than the entire farm values of all the United States. “The impoverishment in money and in young men has carried Europe back towards the condition of utter collapse produced by the religious wars succeeding the Reformation.” “It is certain that the treaty of peace will not settle all of the problems which the war has raised and emphasized. It may not settle any of them. In any event, the young men of Europe and America have resting on their shoulders the most important duty of many centuries—the duty of bringing freedom to the suppressed people of a continent, and of bringing lasting security to a crippled world.” LOSSES IN MEN AND TREASURES
The doctor has given utterance to some very striking statements in the foregoing paragraphs. No one has ever charged him with extremes in presenting facts and figures. He is disposed, by natural temperament as well as by his training, to speak conservatively when presenting figures of this character. Adjectives fail one in speaking of the awful waste already produced by this European war. According to Dr. Jordan, it is in the neighborhood of sixty-eight billions of dollars; and that says nothing about the values in human lives, which cannot be computed in dollars and cents. INTERNATIONALISM THE KEYNOTE
Dr. McDonald emphasized, in his address, that “internationalism will be the keynote of the world of to-morrow.” In other words, a great international plan must be worked out, that will make the world one. CATHOLIC CHURCH A DETERMINING FACTOR
In this connection, very significant are some of the utterances of Archbishop Edward J. Hanna, of the Catholic Church. His theme was, “The Catholic Church and Peace.” From his significant utterances we select the following: “In the momentous crisis through which the world is passing, in the final decision of the war which is devastating the earth, the attitude of the Catholic Church must necessarily be largely a determining factor. For in the struggle, her children number millions. In the councils for peace, they must have large representation, and her guidance will be sought in the adjustment of a cause where justice and mercy and right ought to prevail.” Referring to the pope, the archbishop said: “He is higher than kings and princes, by reason of his priestly office. His rule is vaster than that of all the kings of the earth, and his cause more sacred. . . . The kings and warring princes of the earth listen to his voice; and he has been able, where others have failed, to mitigate the awfulness of the present struggle, to obtain an exchange of prisoners, to protect the aged, to give comfort to the wounded and to the dying, to solace the last hours of the fallen, to accentuate the greater brotherhood of mankind in spite of war's opposition.” There is a mighty craze now sweeping over the world for what is termed “internationalism.” Men, great men, doubtless many of them well-meaning and good men, believe that they can make permanent peace by some of these plans; and it is noticeable, in the discussions of the day, that they are expecting the power of the church to be a mighty factor in the working out of their designs. Or possibly, to state it more correctly, the leaders in the church are expecting to make themselves felt more strongly than ever. In a time of great calamity, men seem to turn instinctively to religion. They seek the church; but often they are seeking religion because only of the fear of some overwhelming calamity. True and abiding reforms are not brought about under such conditions. But the times will lend themselves to some of these mighty international movements. And we wish to keep it before our readers that the prophecies clearly point out that one of the most conspicuous things at the close of this world's history will be a great world-wide and apparently triumphant religious despotism. The scriptures that disclose it have been frequently presented through our columns, and we can see how things are shaping in the world to that end. Men are terrified before the conditions that confront us; and in their haste to establish order and organization, they will work upon wrong principles, and will worse than repeat the history of the tyrannies of the Middle Ages. Intercommunication between all parts of the world has made it possible to have things that could not have existed centuries ago; and consequently the tyranny and the despotism that will come out of the developing anarchy of this world will be the worst that have been seen. The Master says of the times just before his coming, that they will be as they were in the days of Noah; and the record states that in Noah's time, “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” And, furthermore, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:11, 5. WHOSE ESTIMATE SHALL BE TAKEN?
The estimate that man places upon himself is likely to deceive him. Men had placed the estimate upon themselves, previous to the outbreak of this European war, that they were so civilized that we would have continual and universal peace; but the European war has broken the delusion. Yet the break is only temporary. Men are still certain that the human race is so good there will never be any more war. But God's estimate of humanity is the only safe one to follow. The estimate God has placed upon the human race, as presented through the prophets, shows us that at the close of time, we are to have the worst wars in all history. This European conflagration shows that God's estimate was true, and that men's theories have been shattered. It is well, in these times, to follow the leadings of the divine Book; for the Book most strikingly tells us that “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thes. 5: 3. In these dark hours, as never before in the world's history, men should study their Bible, to know what God teaches; and they should beware of the speculations and theories of men.